My 10-year-old is a music-learning machine. He’s been at the piano every day for a long time, building an ever-long medley of songs including movie themes, Beatles songs, and more.
The thing is, I think that a lot of kids are music-learning machines. The difference is my son has consistent access to music – a piano in the living room, a keyboard and drum set in the basement, and various other instruments. Plus the internet to listen to songs, a recorded music collection, and two parents to ask musical questions.
Not every child can have two music-teacher parents, but every child deserves access to music-making tools. Much more than the 45 minutes a week that my kids get in music class (and much, much more than the 0 minutes many elementary students get).
Music is a fundamental human gift, and with enough access to musical tools and opportunity, we would have so much more music in our lives and in the lives of our children.
Now to go listen to a piano rendition of “Imagine.”